To Help A Child In Need
by SYCD
Summary: Little Sarah has fallen deathly ill. This causes Count Von Krolock to relive painful memories from his past as he tries to help her.  My first FanFic please feel free to R&R.  Enjoy!


To Help A Child In Need.

It was dead winter; the merciless wind was strong and made the top of the no longer snow covered trees bend almost snapping them. Every few moments the full moon would peek out of dark clouds being pushed by the wind and shine its ghostly pale light on the snow making it almost glow.

Count Von Krolock was sitting at his desk in the study with a warm fire blazing in the fireplace just ten feet away from him but he didn't notice the warmth, he was just sitting back in his big chair with his hands on the arm rests staring into space. The window across the room becoming packed with snow as the wind blew on, he began to think of his long life. He has a son; Herbert, a beautiful young man who was so much like his mother...they both deserved better.

Krolock couldn't help but remember that stormy winter night that was so similar to this night...the night his lovely wife died of a mysterious sickness that had made its way into her blood and her fragile body just gave up. She was fine, she never complained about anything unless she had good reason and her reason was always a very good one. Krolock smiled at that thought remembering the time Herbert was six and thought it was a good idea for him and his friend to play with long sticks and sword fight with them, the fun didn't last long when Herbert got a good sized splinter under the skin of his left cheek. "Boys will be boys dear." Krolock said assuring his wife who glared icicles at him while trying to calm a hysterical little Herbert.

Herbert was 15 when his mother passed away but Krolock knew that it affected him dearly even though the boy hardly ever showed it with always acting as positive as possible, the poor boy...

Suddenly a noise snapped Krolock from his thoughts and he listened, for a few moments all that could be heard was the wind outside and the fire behind him, then he heard it again. It was faint but it was definitely there, the sound of a woman crying. Krolock stood up from his chair and walked slowly to the window and stood to listen.

Now he could tell what direction it was coming from, the village below of course, he listened some more as the crying became yelling hysterics of a man and woman.

Krolock decided to investigate. He walked through some corridors to his son's room; he knocked quietly and waited for the reply on the other side.

"Yes?" a high pitched boyish voice chimed, Krolock opened the door. His son Herbert now in his early twenties was laying on his stomach on the bed reading a worn out book, most likely an old romance.

"Herbert I am going out for the evening-" "Going to snatch yourself another beauty eh, Papa?" Herbert interjected and giving his father a wink and a fanged grin.

"Any human in their right mind wouldn't be out on a night like this son, I simply want to get out of the castle for a while. I'll be back before dawn." And with that Krolock left for the roof.

When it's this windy it's always a good idea to fly above the trees so not to have an ugly and embarrassing accident, not that anyone would be around to see it but Krolock always wanted to be the most careful to set a good example for his son no matter what.

He gracefully flew off the roof into a slight dive to the small village houses bellow. He landed right in the center of the village and stood there to listen for the sound he heard before, he didn't need to worry about being spotted because his cloths were the same as the night and he could easily hide in any shadow.

He began hearing the yelling once again and began making his way towards it to find that it was coming from the village's only inn. It wasn't very nice to look at, in fact none of the buildings looked that good but what mattered most was that they were sturdy and could handle harsh long winters.

Krolock saw one of the windows had light glowing through so he quietly flew towards it for a closer look.

A pudgy man and a tubby woman were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, Krolock shook his head in disgust; mortals can be so irrational when under any kind of panic he thought to himself and looked back into the window. This time he saw another man he'd never seen before meaning he wasn't from around here, no doubt from the bag by his feet that he was the next village's doctor. The elderly man was writing in a tattered book every so once in a while looking to the left and shaking his head sadly. This really got Krolock's curiosity going so he went to find a better view. Luckily he found a window that allowed him to see most of the room, that's when he saw the reason the doctor was there and why the man and woman were so riled up. It was their daughter Sarah, the little baby his hunchback Kokoul told him about seven years ago when he was sent for more supplies for the castle. Kokoul mentioned the child had a very beautiful colour of hair that looked bouncy and healthy unlike all other girl's and woman's hair in the village. Kokoul also went on to say that the child had healthier looking skin than anyone else he's ever seen with rosy cheeks and bright lively eyes, but Krolock didn't mind his servant for he was always rambling about something but that time the conversation stuck in his unconscious until he saw the girl for himself.

He was taken aback for Kokoul was completely right, she was beautiful and Krolock knew that she'll be a magnificent woman one day, a real heartbreaker. He could just see it now, as soon as Sarah turned the right age when boys where the whole world and they'll be lining up to sweep her off her feet.

Sarah was in her bed sleeping even though her parents were making an awful amount of noise.

The doctor stood up with his bag in hand "Please, Please you'll wake the child! She needs as much rest as possible."

"W-w-what's happened to my little Sarah?" the woman sobbed into her food stained apron, her husband now nowhere in sight but Krolock could hear him rushing around in the inn running up the stairs and seconds later bursts onto the room with a clean cloth in his hand.

"Here." he panted handing the cloth to the doctor, " the cloth needs to be soaked in cool water first then I can use it to cool her fever."

"Fever?" the woman shrieked as her husband stumbled out the room. "Yes , it's a good thing you sent for me or Sarah wouldn't have made it through the night."

The woman sobbed even louder at that news and her husband came rushing back in at the sound of his wailing wife and gave the doctor the cool cloth and he slowly wiped Sarah's face with it before folding it and placing it on her forehead.

"But all is not lost yet, she could still make it but it's out of our hands now. All you can do now is pray for her Mr. and . Pray that Sarah wakes up in the morning."

"But what's wrong with her doctor? She was fine and happy yesterday!" finally spoke up, his wife couldn't bear to hear anymore so she went out of the room.

"It seems that a virus has made its way into Sarah's blood stream, if caught immediately it's harmless but left untreated too long it will make its way to Sarah's heart stopping it completely...She could die. But hopefully the medicine will get to the virus before that happens."

slumped into the chair by the door and stared at his feet. Krolock couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for the man, he remembers some close calls with Herbert's life and health which was his reason for turning his son into the same...creature he was. Though Krolock regrets turning his boy into a monster like him he couldn't bear the idea of spending eternity without his son, even if his life style isn't what Krolock had in mind for him and the arguments they have mostly go unresolved he still would rather have family then nothing.

The doctor walked to the door and put a hand on Shagal's shoulder "You must be strong , for both your daughter and your wife; you both have had a long day and should get some sleep. You mustn't disturb Sarah's rest or she won't recover, you must wait until the morning and if she awakens then send for me again so I can examine her further."

"Yes..." Shagal whispered still staring at his shoes, then quickly snapped out of his daze and got to his feet to show the doctor out. came in the room once more to grab the candle on the table by Sarah's bed and followed the two men out closing the door behind her.

Krolock quickly flew up to the roof and knelt down so he wouldn't be seen.

"Good night." he heard the doctor as he stepped out of the inn and towards the carriage taking him back to his village.

Krolock didn't move, he couldn't, he just knelt there on the roof with the wind blowing is dark blue hair away from his face. He knelt there for about an hour and listened to the couple inside, they were getting ready to close up the empty inn for the night. The village didn't usually get visitors, not even in the summer, people usually passed by or just went into the inn for a meal and a drink then they were on their way. Luckily the village was full of drunks so the couple could stay afloat just barely getting by.

The inn fell completely silent except for Mr. and 's snoring, that was Krolock's signal to start looking for a way in. He just had to see the poor girl, she's such a rare beauty and it would be a terrible waste if her life were to end so soon but the least he could do is be there by her side if worse came to worse she won't die alone.

He leapt from the roof to the ground silently and began circling the building; he turned door knobs and tried opening the windows but no luck by the ground. So he tried hovering to the second level and began circling once again. Luck was on his side for once, Sarah's window that he'd first gone to wasn't locked, it was a tad small but the count managed to make it in without a sound.

The light of the moon filled the room creating frightening shadows but his was the most frightening in the room as it draped over Sarah's bed, it looked like a demon's shadow about to strike its helpless prey. Krolock shook the thought away, he would never hurt a child no matter how starved for blood he was, he'd walk into the sun first.

He sat in the chair the doctor occupied earlier by the girl's bed, he sat down and gazed at her emotionless face, the cloth still on her forehead. He took it in his hand and saw that it was now dry so he got up to soak it in cool water again, making sure that all the water had been wrung out which was quick and easy with a vampires strength.

In no time he was back at her side feeling her cheeks, they were hot compared to his ice cold hand, it made Sarah frown in her sleep so he quickly drew his hand away and wiped her face with the cloth. He didn't place the cloth back on her forehead he wrung it in his fingers, his fatherly instincts finally stirring in him like the stormy wind outside. He hated the idea of children not getting a chance at life, it made him sick to his stomach that a child's life could be cut short by an ailment. Children shouldn't be sick he thought to himself, they should be happy and healthy so they can play, grow, learn what life has to offer them and leave home to make their own families some day!

Krolock's thoughts were silenced by Sarah's whimpering, he leaned in to get a better look at her for the moon's light was blocked by thick clouds but he could still see her in the blackness. Her face wore panic. "She must be having a nightmare." he said quietly to himself, he took a pair of soft warm gloves out of his pocket that he wore when he'd go out hunting unsuspecting victims, they hid his sharp glassy nails and gave the illusion that he was normal if he ever encountered a flirty woman or man so he had the freedom to stroke their cheek or hold their hand until the right moment came to strike.

Krolock took one gloved hand and ran it through her bright red curls while the other had in cased her small hand.

He whispered soothing words to her but she was in too deep of sleep to hear him.

In that moment a flashback came to Krolock's mind; this has happened before with his son, he was only three and had a high fever from the flu. The doctor had said that if the fever rose any higher Herbert could suffer long term health and mental difficulties. Krolock was doing the exact same thing for Sarah as he did for Herbert all those decades ago. That was the breaking point for him.

Krolock stood up from his chair, picked it up and brought it into the hallway and searched the inn for a rocking chair, he wasn't going to stand for the child's nightmarish suffering any longer and this idea was that last he could think of. It had to work, it just had to...

He'd found a rocking chair that, to his luck had a stuffed pillow and a wool blanket hanging on the back, perfect!

He brought the chair to Sarah's room and placed it just feet away from her bed. Her frightened whimpers had quieted but now she was beginning to stir, he had to act fast or her fever will surely rise. He placed the pillow on the end table and lay the wool blanked out at the edge of her bed then slowly began to remove the heavier blankets that covered her, he then began to scoop her in his arms but that only made her more frightened in her sleep.

She began to cry and struggled against him but he had a secure hold on her.

"No, no please don't cry little one. sshhh." He said as quietly as he could. Krolock's head snapped to the direction of the parent's room, he could hear the bead creak but nothing more.

With that he slowly began rocking on his feet side to side humming a soft tune, one his wife taught him from when she was a baby that she passed on to their son, it always calmed him no matter how frightening a dream or how scary a storm was.

Sarah calmed down enough for Krolock to set her down on the bed and wrap the wool blanket snug around her shivering body, he then slowly sat in the rocking chair with her head cradled in one arm he reached over to the table and grabbed the pillow and placed it under her head all the while still humming the tune.

Hours had passed and the dawn was near. Sarah's fever was almost passed and she now slept still in the count's arms still rocking back and forth in the chair. He watched as she slept happily with a small smile spread on her pink lips. Her face had a little more colour to it than before and her cheeks were even more of the rose colour that Kokoul had described.

"Oh how I with I could see those beautiful bright eyes of yours, my dear." he said chuckling to himself.

He then glanced out the window to see that birds had already begun the hunt for their breakfast and that the sky had a purple glow.

He then stood up and put the sleeping girl back into bed and placed the pillow and blanked back on the rocking chair.

He was about to open the window and climb out when he stopped and turned to see the girl once again, he walked back to the bed and knelt by her side and took her small hand in his. "Sarah Shagal, I promise to watch over you for the rest of my life. I promise to protect you from those to seek to harm you and other dangers in life, you have my word child." He then kissed her lightly on her now cool forehead and disappeared into the morning light.

When he returned to the castle Herbert had already gone into his coffin for the day, Kukoul had appeared by his side tugging on the count's cape grunting in concern for his master should've been in his coffin by now.

The count pushed the lid of his coffin open and lay down as Kokoul slid the lid closed and locked the door to the room.

Krolock lay there waiting for sleep to claim him, his head spun over the events that took place during the night, as he thought of the vow he'd made to that little girl he'd thought about how maybe he still had a soul and perhaps it wasn't as damned as he thought it was.


End file.
